Methods & Applications: Language Revitalization

Spring term 2018
Wednesday, 13.15-14.45, Collegium Novum B, Room 302
Attention: the class starts March 7
30 contact hours
3 ECTS
Lecturer: Tomasz Wicherkiewicz

Course description:
The aim is to acquaintance students with theoretical, research and pragmatic issues of language endangerment, language death, language shift, language change and language maintenance, revival and revitalization from a local (speakers’ community), regional, national, international and global perspective.

Course plan:
Week 1: Origin and development of languages, language diversity of the world
Week 2: Speech communities of the world
Week 3: Language shift, language loss, language death
Week 4: Criteria and degrees of language endangerment
Week 5: Types and case studies of language endangerment
Week 6: Types and case studies of language endangerment
Week 7: Sociolinguistic and ethnolinguistic aspects of language endangerment
Week 8: Structural (linguistic) aspects of language endangerment; language contact & language
Week 9: Typology of speakers of endangered and revitalized languages
Week 10: Linguistic heritage and language rights
Week 11: Language maintenance, revival and revitalization
Week 12: Reversing language shift
Week 13: Language revitalization – case studies
Week 14: Ethics in language revitalization
Week 15: Documentation, fieldwork, training in language revitalization

Bibliography and online ressources

  • Austin, Peter K. & Julia Sallabank (eds.) 2011. The Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages. Cambridge University Press.
  • Brenzinger, Matthias (ed.) 2006. Language Diversity Endangered. Berlin-New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
  • Brenzinger, Matthias & Tjeerd de Graaf. Documenting endangered languages and maintaining language diversity
  • Crystal, David 2005. Language Death. Cambridge University Press.
  • Fishman, Joshua A. 1991. Reversing Language Shift. Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages. Multilingual Matters.
  • Fishman, Joshua A. (ed.) 2001. Can Threatened Languages Be Saved? Reversing Language Shift, Revisited: A 21st Century Perspective. Multilingual Matters.
  • Grenoble, Lenore & Lindsay J. Whaley (eds.) 1999. Endangered languages. Language loss and community response. Current issues and future prospects. Cambridge University Press.
  • Grenoble, Lenore & Lindsay J. Whaley 2006. Saving Languages. An Introduction to language revitalization. Cambridge University Press.
  • Harrison, K. David 2007. When Languages Die. The Extinction of the World’s Languages and the Erosion of Human Knowledge. Oxford University Press.
  • Hermes, Mary, Megan Bang, Ananda Marin 2012. Designing Indigenous Language Revitalization
  • Nettles, Daniel & Suzanne Romaine 2002. Vanishing Voices. The extinction of the world’s languages. Oxford University Press.
  • Olko, Justyna, Tomasz Wicherkiewicz & Robert Borges (eds.) 2016. Integral Strategies for Language Revitalization. Warszawa: Wydział Artes Liberales Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego.
  • Thomason, Sarah G. 2015. Endangered Languages. An Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
  • Tsunoda, Tasaku 2006. Language Endangerment and Language Revitalization. An Introduction. Berlin-New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
  • http://languagesindanger.eu
  • http://www.revitalization.al.uw.edu.pl